Cattle-guard.



H. P. SPENCER.

GATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1914.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ifea

W/T/VESSES 7HL` MORRIS PEIERS CO PHnTo-LITHO.. '.VAS-UNCYON, D c

H. P. SPENCER.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 2s. 1914.

1,112,939. Patented 0ct.6,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIT/VESSES A TOHNEYS THE MORRIS PFfS F0 Pl'flro LITHa, WASH/Na ION, D r1 11. Secured in anyv suitable manner to the forward end of each angle iron, are vertically disposed slightly Varcuate rack bars 13,

vracks .18. and pinions 14.

which are'arrangedin transverse aliiieinent and with their upper ends substantially even with the platform, and which project downwardly a suliicient distance, and are disposed so that they may play in the space between adjacent cross ties. f y j The rack bars or toothed segments 13 are `in mesh 'with pinions 14I keyed uponv arevo- 'luble shaft 15,l to which is iixedly secured the. Vbarrieror gate comprising central and side sections 16 andl 17 respectively, said gate .normally occupying a horizontal position between and on eachside of the rails, and adapted to be moved into vertical position upon'the movement of an animal on to the platform thereby depressing -the latter against the tensionof coiled springs 18 and thus rotating shaft through action of maybe disposed at the forward end of the central section of the platform between said platform and. one of the cross ties, and the springs attheir lower ends may be seated in recesses out in the top surfacevoffthe cross iso ,is strun'g with in? horizontal posed towa tie for keeping thesprings in place.l The gate sections each comprise a substantiallyrectangularframe which may'be made .of

wood .or other suitable material, and .which --thetraclowhich are of a weight insufficient; .to fraise the gate, for the reason that the barbs and prongs project upwardly from'the ate when the latter'is in horizontal* position.- Y f f The gate sectionsareconnected to shalft 15 by means of. arms 21 disposed one at each l .webs o'frails 5, andv this `desirable one, although the shaftjcould be :which thev shaft extends,

saidarms gate sections adjacent the. shaft, provided with eyes 22 through and which are keyed or"otherwise.secured in fixed relation .with v-theshaft, so lthat the gate will be rotated as thev shaft is* rotated. Theshaft `is shown as` beingrotatably positioned in the construction is a journaled in' brackets (not shown) {beneath the'rails. Securedy in any desirable manner at. the oppositeends of the shaft 15 andv on thev opposite sideI thereof from the gate, are counterweights 23, forcounterf balancing the gate to allowmovementof. the saine into ,raised positi'onnpon- Ithe niovementfof an The springs 18l kdisposed below the level barbed wire 19 andv is pro-r z-vided around its edges with prongs 20 which of, as do not depart-fromthe animal of small weight on to the 'platform' In order-to limit the movement of the gate after the saine has attained a .vertical'position, arms 21 are provided near eyes 22 with stop arms or pins 24 adapted as shown iny Fig. 5 `when the gate is in vertical position, to engage the forward edge of thev platform for limiting kthe movement of said gate, the platform in the meantime having practically reached the end of its downward movement by coming in contact with the cross tie adjacent shaft 15, the parts' being so arranged that when the movement ofthe platform is limited by the tie, the gate will have assumed a vertical positionl andthe stop pins will havey come into engagement with the platform. The pins are of such lengtv as not to project yabove the headl of the rails when the gate is horizontal.

rlhe `rear ends of the angle irons secured slightly downwardlyas at 25, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so that the eyes 12 and 12 are of lthe platform, andthe latter is .hence disposed iii spaced relation. to` the crossties 6,' and above the saine, but slightly below or at leastiiot above 85 to the sections of the platform, are bent the .tread of the Vrails 5,"and the platform is `normally held in raised *position by action of the sjii'ings-l. if so desirechone of the cross ties may be' provided with cushions 26 lupon'. Vwhich may restV the outer rails of the gate frames, so that when the latter returns from vertical toliorizontalposition, the shockimay be absorbed by thecushi'ons so as to prevent unnecessary jarring of the gates andy of the partsv of the device, the strength of the springs, however, being only great enough to return the gate to its normal position upon removal" of weight from the platform,-

ltxwill be noted l is 'extremely simple in its character and construction, and that it may be applied at any point of a railway track, and does not removal of any ofthe crossties bracing ofthem, or the rails,nor any-mu tilation of the railway track, thus: doing away with many ofthe undesirable features .accruing to the gua-rds of thistype heretofore provided.

Although l have described the ypreferred embodiment of my invention, lfmay desire to make such changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts therespirit of the invention and the scope of ,.tlieuappended claims. Y f 1 l I claim:

1. A` cattle guard comprising a central that the device described 4171,0 require skilled labor in placing it on a' track, nor special tools, f norv does `it.-require the or 'the special platform section disposed' between the rails i of a track, andwholly above the ties thereof and ,side sections disposed on opposite t sections each being sides ofthe track rails andwholly above the ties, a strap secured to said central section and side sections and spanning the rails below the same, angle irons disposed `in parallel relation longitudinally of and secured to the platform sections, said irons having eyes formed at one end thereof, pivot bars secured to one of the cross ties, on which said eyes are journaled, vertically disposed rack the angle irons, said rack bars at their up* per edges being even with the plane of the platform, said bars disposed in horizontal alinement, a shaft journaled transversely of the track, agate fixedly secured to said shaft, pinions carried by with said rack bars, counterweights carried by said shaft, coiled springs disposed between said platform and one of the cross ties, said springs normally holding said platform in raised position, said gate being disposed in horizontal relation when the Iplatform is in raised position, and coperating means between the platform and gate for limiting the movement ofthe latter. e

2. A; cattle guard including a gate comprising a central section disposed between rails of the track, and side sections disposed `on opposite sides of the track rails, said formed of a substantially rectangular frame work, barbed wire strung on said sections, prongs secured on said secbarssecured one to each of` :D i 3 the shaft in mesh` tions, a shaft jonrnaled transversely of the track rails, arms secured to said gate sections, andhavmg eyes through which sald shaftextends, said eyes being keyed on the shaft, said'" gate being disposed normally in horizontal position between and on each side of the track rails and wholly above the ties, an actuating platform, O'ear means between the platform and shaft for rotating the latter when the former is moved, formoving the gate into vertical position, and means carried by the arms for engagingsaid platform` whereby to limit the movement of the (fate.

pivoted at one end and free to move at the other end, `said platform being disposed entirely above the ties of the track, a shaft journaled transversely of the track, Aco-acting means between the free end of the platform and the shaft for rotating the latter A cattle guard comprising aplatform` as the former is moved, a gate iixedly coni nected with the shaft `and adapted to be moved from horizontal to vertical position as the latter is moved, and stop pins carried by the gate and adapted to engage the platform forlixniting the movement of the` gate.

HENRY r. SPENCER.

lVitn'esses e H. H. NELSON, E. B. VILLIAMs.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for v:

centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

Washington,` D. CJ 

